Loaded beer truck rolls over
James Floyd, Fun Beverage Inc.’s warehouse operations manager, peers out of the back of a trailer full of beer that overturned early Tuesday morning on U.S. 93 just south of Whitefish. The driver was not hurt in the crash. Jennifer DeMonte photos/Daily Inter Lake
Driver unhurt in U.S. 93 crash
The Daily Inter Lake
The driver of a Fun Beverage Inc. beer truck suffered only minor injuries after his fully loaded tractor-trailer ran off the road Tuesday morning.
According to the Montana Highway Patrol, the tractor-trailer was northbound on U.S. 93 south of Whitefish at about 5:40 a.m. when the driver attempted to change lanes.
The back tires of the trailer, however, swung wide and struck a snow berm in the road's median. The impact jackknifed the tractor-trailer to the left and sent it skidding across the southbound lanes of traffic, where it rolled into the side of a hill after hitting the ditch.
The driver, who was wearing a seat belt at the time, was treated for minor injuries at Kalispell Regional Medical Center and released to assist in the cleanup.
The seat belt saved the man from more serious injuries, said Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Roger Dundas, noting that that a fully loaded tractor-trailer can weigh 80,000 pounds.
A preliminary investigation indicated neither alcohol nor excessive speed were factors in the accident, Dundas said.
The truck, loaded with Kokanee and Corona beer, was on its way to make deliveries in Whitefish when the crash occurred, according to a spokesman for Fun Beverage.
Except for kegs, all the beer in the truck was taken to the landfill and destroyed. Other trucks loaded replacement products at the company's warehouse and completed the route, the spokesman said.